Tom Marvolo Riddle Strikes Again- Chapter 1 finish
by SilveR ShadE
Summary: The evil lord is about to strike again, this time affecting Harry's most precious things in his life...


Tom Marvolo Riddle Strikes Again.  
  
Prologue & Chapter 1.  
  
All characters © J.K. Rowling  
  
Story © JJK (aka W.N.; SilveR ShadoW) 2002  
  
Prologue  
  
It was a cold, clear night in December. The stars were sparkling in the sky, like thousands of fire flies. Hogwarts was easily visible in the moonlight, as well as the many little towers. Nevertheless, a strange feeling prevailed. You couldn't hear a sound; not even the cracking of a tree in the wind, not even the screeching of an owl. The silence was only broken by a weak moaning, coming from the Forbidden Forest. A plaintive groaning. A sign of pain, followed by laughter.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Not far away from the Forbidden Forest, in the Gryffindor Common Room, a completely different feeling prevailed. A blue fire cheerfully crackled, diffusing a mysterious light. At the table, some Gryffindors were playing a card-game. So were Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. They had already finished their homework; the teachers apparently finally realized that there were other things in life than doing homework, because they didn't had to do much, unlike usual.  
  
"How about a nice walk?" Ron proposed, after George had won for the 4th time and Fred was looking away with a sour face. "I mean... now, we finally have the time to do something! I really wonder why the teachers have set such little homework... would they finally understand what big of a torture it is for us?" He grinned.  
  
"You shouldn't complain so much," Hermione snapped at him, "homework is very important! And you know it. If you want..."  
  
"Yah, yah, to you it IS important, Hermione, we know that. Me, myself I find it less interesting... " He sighed and turned towards Harry. "What do you think, Harry?" Harry nodded and then threw an apologising glance at Hermione, who murmured, in response: "You're just lazy, both of you. Typically boys..."  
  
The three Hogwarts students left their Common Room and went through the Portrait that led to the dim corridor. It wasn't late yet, nevertheless it already started to grow dusk. Therefore several torches had been lit, spreading a red glow in the corridors of Hogwarts. Long shadows silently followed the three young people on their walk.  
  
"Know what? I'd say we should go to Hagrid. It's been a while, hasn't it? And I'm sure he would be delighted if he saw us again," Hermione said. Ron smiled when Harry added: "Maybe he has errrr... 'cooked' something again? I wonder if he will ever learn how to cook decently... how can he ever stay alive eating the food he makes?"  
  
Hagrid wasn't a great cook. You'd rather call him an awful cook: When he baked biscuits, they seemed to be made of cement; when he made soup, it was more like tasteless dregs. Yet they had never told Hagrid about his bad cooking abilities since he was always very proud of his bakings. They just couldn't disappoint or hurt him.  
  
On their way, they passed several people. Sadly, for them, also Draco Malfoy, who couldn't resist humiliating the three, especially not Harry. "Eh, Potter! What are you and your miserable friends up to now? Going to that barbarian again, with his 'cute animals'?" he sneered. "That man, he's perilous! My father says he is, especially after that Hippogriff belaboured me so badly. I could have died, and all that fool did was apologising!" A smile appeared around his lips.  
  
"You were just attudinizing like a child! Plus it was your very own fault!" Harry snapped at Draco. "As for me, that Hippogriff could have eaten you!"  
  
Hermione pulled Harry's robe. "Come on," she wispered. "He's not worth it..." Harry turned his back upon Draco and stepped away, followed by Hermione and, finally, also Ron, who murmured a clearly audible 'stupid pig'.  
  
Draco seemed highly annoying, lately. He just could not stop making spiteful comments every time Harry, Ron or Hermione passed. Harry started to hate Draco even more, if that was possible at all. It was probably because Harry had won the Triwizard Tournament and that Draco couldn't stand the fact that Harry got such a lot of attention.  
  
Harry still felt awful after what had happened to Cedric Diggory during the Tournament. The fact Voldemort had risen, and that he was even more powerful than before, didn't make it any better. The idea that Voldemort was around, making plans on how to kill him, gave him cold shivers. His last battle against the Dark Lord hadn't been very successful; he had been lucky to survive it. Harry sometimes still had nightmares, horrible nightmares, in which he saw his friends die. His hate against Voldemort had reached its high point and it made him feel awful.  
  
And that wasn't all. Harry's upcoming death kept being predicted by one of his teachers; even though Harry had never been sure about the truth of it (and had always thought of it as complete rubbish, as well as Ron and Hermione) he started to doubt.  
  
To forget all of this, they were on their way to Hagrid. Anyhow, they intended to go to Hagrid. Once they had left the castle and stepped outside into the cold air, they saw Hogwarts' Head, Proffessor Albus Dumbledore, leaving Hagrid's house. He seemed to be in a hurry, his white beard was dancing on the rhythm of his steps and his crescent-shaped glasses were shining in the little light still visible.  
  
He approached them quickly. Seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione, he stepped towards the three and smiled warmly.  
  
"Hello! Are you going to visit Rubeus Hagrid? That would be good, I was just coming back from visiting him." "Yes," Harry replied, "It's been a while." Dumbledore smiled again. "You three had better watch out, the man has baked some of his famous cookies again... And, how hard I keep trying- I don't like them much..." He winked at them. "But- I should go again. Goodbye, my friends!" "Goodbye Proffessor Dumbledore," Hermione said, after which they saw Dumbledore disappear in the dark.  
  
When they approached Hagrid's little house, they could already hear Hagrid's dog barking. They knocked on the door, after which Hagrid flung the door wide. "Hey, maties!" he welcomed them, "how nice to see ya again! Ya should drop by a little more often, eh!" When they had all entered his house, Hagrid shut the door behind Hermione and told them to take a seat. "Cookie?" he offered, "made them meself!" Harry shoke his head. "No, thanks, we just had... err... dinner," he explained. Hagrid nodded. "Ah, I see..." He took one of the cookies and bit on it.  
  
"What was Dumbledore actually doing here?"  
  
Hagrid swallowed down the cookie and replied: 'Errr... nothing special... I errr... I shouldn't tell this, but... well, you see- A few days ago, at night, I heard this weird sound." He looked a bit ashamed. "A very... anxious sound."  
  
Hermione looked thoughtful. "Maybe it was just a wolf or something?"  
  
Hagrid shook his head. "I'm sure it wasn't a wolf. I would've recognized a wolfie. It sounded more... scared? It scared me, too. Even little doggie here didn't like it... did ya fellow?" As a response, the animal whined loudly.  
  
Ron scratched his head and threw Harry a significant glance. Harry nodded back. Hagrid hadn't noticed anything and was just eating another one of his home made cookies.  
  
"Anyways. Are ya all okay? Did anything happen to ya? At school?" He tried to change the subject of the conversation, and the three friends silently decided they would, too, and started talking about their lessons and the small amount of homework.  
  
A bit later, when Hagrid had already said goodbye and waved at them from the door, Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking back to the castle. "If Hagrid thinks there's something wrong, there IS something wrong," Ron said resolute. "He's not often wrong, is he?" Harry nodded and looked at Hermione, who suddenly understood what the two boys meant. "Are you... no, you're not going to- are you...?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Tonight?" "Tonight." 


End file.
